ISABELLA DYSON

It is not an every day occurrence to ask a quiet young visitor to the gallery "What do you do?", to receive the answer, "I'm an artist", and to be stunned by the photos of the work on her phone. But this happened early in 2025 and a small collection of her paintings was immediately included in North House Gallery’s Summer exhibition The Sea, The Sea with the promise of a solo show in 2026.

And here it is: a collection of over 40 paintings, large and small, still predominantly representing the energy of the sea and coastal weather in constant flux. Inspired by the energy evoked by Turner’s landscapes and the different energy of Cy Twombly's mark making, at the same time she is aiming at a transience and stillness which she achieves through colour and the use of different media.

"The sea is an ever-changing and delightfully fascinating element of nature. I want to evoke the power it has to immerse the viewer into another time, a place in time, something that has to be captured in a fleeting moment that will never be seen in the same light again. The current is of huge interest to me, how its unpredictable nature can never be captured in one and the same way."

"I use a simple colour palette as I  like the calm feeling these colours evoke, like the water waiting for a storm to come its way. The feeling of a painting starts with a drawing or sketch and develops into a painting using a range of media such as oil, acrylic and pastel."

After Foundation at Camberwell, Isabella completed her degree in Fine Art at The Cass (London Metropolitan University). She has exhibited at the Museum of the Home, Apperley Arts Gallery, Eleven Spitalfields Gallery and Spitalfields Market Space. Last year she collaborated with her father, the architect Chris Dyson, on an exhibition of paintings and drawings, Terra Firma, at Grey Gallery.